Taking care of the Library Building Before and After Typhoons On September 5-6, we experienced the first Typhoon 8 this Fall term. Can you guess which teams in the Library are the busiest and most nervous during such situations? For sure, you would notice the team of library staff who manage opening and closing; but less visible, though not less important, is the effort of the Library's Facility Team and Access Services Team! Before Typhoon As Typhoon Yagi approached last week, we prepared the Library Building for potential water leakage and damage by strong winds. We promptly stacked sandbags at all potential flooding spots on the 1st Floor, LG1, and LG4. All terraces and garden doors had been secured, and we had placed typhoon signage on doors to remind you to avoid entering or staying in those areas for your safety. Your well-being is our top priority! We also cleared the drainage in the terraces and garden. In the photo below, our campus cleaning crew was working hard to clear leaves and debris from the drainage before the typhoon signal was hoisted. Every drain was cleaned to avoid flooding causing leakage to the floors underneath.

Just like you, we librarians are learning to use GenAI. But unlike you, we are interested not only in using the technology to lighten up our daily work. We are eager to watch how GenAI is changing teaching, learning, and research, and particularly, how students and scholars like you find and use information in this emerging technological environment. That’s why I invited Dr. Leo Lo from the University of New Mexico to give us this talk: "Empowering Educators through AI Literacy and Upskilling: Insights from the U.S. and UNM." Leo is actively working on AI literacy for librarians and speaks at numerous seminars and conferences about AI in higher education. You can view the recording of his webinar for HKUST. For me, one memorable point was his analogy projecting AI as a technological change akin to the leap from fire to electricity. Not only does electricity provide light and warmth, but it also turned out to be the foundation of almost all modern technologies. Leo mentioned how electricity enables new possibilities such as telecommunication and the internet.

From August 2023 to July 2024, scholars from HKUST have published a total of 19 books, as indicated in our Institutional Repository.

Interested to know how many volumes of print books were added to the Library collection in the last academic year? Just 2,380 volumes. I say “just” because this is less than one tenth of the number of ebooks added within the same period. The Library has adopted e-preferred policy for some years, meaning we buy ebooks where possible. Where e-version is not available, we fall back on print. Let’s zoom into the 2,380 print volumes; half of them are Chinese language titles. For the other half, the majority are western titles that are only published in print, mainly from small publishers, or textbooks whose e-version can only be licensed to individuals for personal use or with very high subscription price. We also buy popular reading in print. We believe good thrillers or suspense novels, for instance, are compelling page turners, and people would enjoy having a paper book in hand.   Do stop by the New Arrivals corner on Library G/F to check out our latest print books.

Knowing course prerequisite is important for students to plan their study path. With a clear visual representation, navigating course pathways becomes easier, allowing students to plan their academic journey more effectively.